Hali questions coaches' offensive strategy in second half

[Coach]

Posted on Sun, Dec. 14, 2008
Hali questions coaches' offensive strategy in second half

By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

Tamba Hali said the losing is getting to him, but that's nothing new. He said something else irritated him during Sunday's 22-21 implosion to San Diego — the decisions and play calling of Kansas City's coaches.

"How we managed the game, I do question that," said Hali, a third-year defensive end. "Those questions belong to the coaches."

Hali said the Chiefs outplayed the Chargers. And until San Diego scored two touchdowns in less than a minute and took the lead with 36 seconds to play, it might have been difficult to question Kansas City's approach. But Hali said coach Herm Edwards and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey shouldn't have been calling so many pass plays in the second half, when the Chiefs led by as many as 18 points.

Hali said coaches should have called more rushing plays, particularly involving former Pro Bowler Larry Johnson. Instead, Johnson had four carries after halftime, and quarterback Tyler Thigpen passed 10 times. Hali said it was not smart to stop the clock with a three-possession lead.

"If he's not running the ball," Hali said, referring to Johnson, "and we're still passing the ball, and the clock is stopping, these things — you can't be surprised at times when they happen.

"I'm not blaming the coaches. I'm saying the (game) management, at times, I feel — I'm speaking for me, not the team — I feel we should be running the ball. … I don't understand. That's what I'm saying."

The Chiefs had reduced Johnson's role weeks earlier. Team officials factored in Johnson's lengthy absence — he missed four games for disciplinary reasons — and the success of Thigpen and the spread offense. That move helped the Chiefs be competitive in seven of their last eight games, but it has translated into only one victory.

Hali said he was not opposed to the spread or to passing, at least when the time is right. He said the time was not right in the second half Sunday, when the Chiefs did not score and managed just four first downs.

"Maybe we should've run the ball," Hali said. "Stopping the clock when you're up by (18)? Passing is great, but managing a game when you're winning like that, it should be common sense sometimes."

Hali said the defense did its part Sunday. The Chiefs tallied a season-high three sacks, and Hali had two of those. Veteran Patrick Surtain had an interception, and his return to the San Diego 3 led to a quick Kansas City touchdown.

Other Chiefs players would not admit any dissatisfaction with Sunday's coaching philosophy. They said it was the latest disappointment by a team that has plenty of comparisons during this 2-12 season.

"I'm not the type to point any fingers," Surtain said. "I can tell you this: This game shouldn't have been close."

Gailey was not in the locker room Sunday while reporters were allowed inside. Edwards didn't address play calling or schemes during his postgame meeting with reporters, which occurred before Hali made his comments.

"You've got to be able to close the game out on both sides of the ball," Edwards said. "We didn't do that. That's a tough one. In 30 years, I've never lost one like that."

Hali said he hadn't lost one like that in his three seasons, either. He said it should not have happened the way it did.

"It's unheard of," he said. "We beat those guys. They were not ready to play us. That's how I felt.

"We had the game won."

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/937110.html

[Boris The Great]

What is Hali talking about? Running the ball and eating more clock? I thought Herm totally handcuffed the offense and wouldnt let them do anything. I read it here on Chiefsplanet, it has to be true.

[Fish]

If only the offense were more Hermcuffed.....

[kcchiefsus]

"I'm not the type to point any fingers," Surtain said. "I can tell you this: This game shouldn't have been close."

Good because the finger would be pointed in your own face.

[Mecca]

I think Tamba Hali should talk about how the Chiefs pass rush is likely to go down as the worst in NFL history.

[jidar]

lol...

Bitch when we run too much, bitch when we run too little.

[TRR]

The defense did their job? They nearly allowed 400 yards to Rivers....

[Mecca]

lol...

Bitch when we run too much, bitch when we run too little.

I think it's funny to see guys who suck acting like "hey we did out job its not our fault" but that's the nature of bad teams I guess.

[Zouk]

We don't have Peyton, Eli, or Brady and almost certainly won't get a player like that in the offseason. So let's draft and sign a bunch of defensive players, 1 offensive playmaker who can return a punt for a score and make a big play or 2 on offense a game, and play like the Titans, Panthers, and Steelers. Physical football with emphasis on defense, running game, and special teams. That's how we get there from here. I think we are running a gimmick offense - and every time the play goes away from the coaches fooling somebody and towards the players simply blocking somebody we lose. It's crap and I hate it.

[Mecca]

We don't have Peyton, Eli, or Brady and almost certainly won't get a player like that in the offseason. So let's draft and sign a bunch of defensive players, 1 offensive playmaker who can return a punt for a score and make a big play or 2 on offense a game, and play like the Titans, Panthers, and Steelers. Physical football with emphasis on defense, running game, and special teams. That's how we get there from here. I think we are running a gimmick offense - and every time the play goes away from the coaches fooling somebody and towards the players simply blocking somebody we lose. It's crap and I hate it.

Now now the Steelers have a QB.

[royr17]

Glad to at least see one of our players stepping up and saying something about this, our players need to be more vocal about this, the coaching staff lost this game for the chiefs point blank.

You do not and set there and pass as much in the 2nd half as we did with a 21 point lead you just dont do that. Thats why we lost the game cause we ended up putting too much weight on our defense.

It's the coaches fault. They should've been running it majority of the 2nd half instead of passing point blank. If things dont change, which Tamba hasnt gotten hardly any sacks this year, but if things dont change, he will leave whenever it comes time for him to be a free agent, I almost guarntee it.

He's one of those players that thrives off others. He's not really what you would call a disrupter to the opposing teams offense without someone that can work with him like Jared Allen.

When he had Jared Allen he was a much better player, just hasnt played as well this year without Jared Allen, but like the leadership that he is trying to take on and speaking about how he feels, I respect players like that, and they respect what our fans think.

[notorious]

The defense did their job? They nearly allowed 400 yards to Rivers....

In their defense(no pun intended LOL), they did only give up 340yds to Diego until the botched onside kick recovery. The meltdown that followed is just the way this team finishes: terribly.


Hali is not completely incorrect. Running the ball wears down their defense, thus helping your offense move the ball in the crucial final minutes. I also questioned why LJ is not getting the ball more in the second half. Running in the 4th is his strongest quality.

[LiL stumppy]

"I'm not the type to point any fingers," Surtain said. "I can tell you this: This game shouldn't have been close."

Good because the finger would be pointed in your own face.

Your right, an INT almost ran for a TD is horrible. :rolleyes:

[Coach]

I think Tamba Hali should talk about how the Chiefs pass rush is likely to go down as the worst in NFL history.

Heh, true, but he is right on one occasion. LJ had only 4 carries in today's 2nd half. Last week, it was 3.

Both were losses.

[royr17]

Now ask yourself this, would this had happened if we had controlled the clock, probably not likely, not moving the ball kept our defense on the field longer thus wearing them down, its the coaching staffs fault. They lost the game. When I left when we had a 21 point lead I was confident that we was going to win this game, when we get back we had lost, and I was like "What the hell just happened, how did we end up losing this game" but everything was going fine for them until they started passing so much and not being able to move the ball, its the coaching staffs fault. Thats my opinion and im sticking to it.

[Mecca]

People wanna run people wanna pass whatever happens someone is going to complain, the Chiefs are a bad team that is calling most of their plays out of a set that lends itself to hurting the run game...

And no one is going to respect Tamba Hali's leadership because he blows.

[notorious]

That sums it up.

[blueballs]

The need for winning was over several weeks ago
the rest of the season is for testing and seasoning the youth

[blueballs]

Bowe was in Herm's face on camera
Hali and Surtain in print
has Herm lost the team

[dj56dt58]

he has his first decent game all year and thinks hes our star or somethin

[notorious]

Bowe was in Herm's face on camera
Hali and Surtain in print
has Herm lost the team

Give Herm credit, it took a whole lot of f***ing up for his team to finally start calling him on it. Herm must be the master a glossing over bull****.

[Mecca]

Give Herm credit, it took a whole lot of f***ing up for his team to finally start calling him on it. Herm must be the master a glossing over bull****.

They're trying to throw Herm under the bus before he does it to them.

[notorious]

With Herm, it would only be proper to throw him under the short bus.

[cdcox]

Hali is just flustrated.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

That's pretty funny that Tamba decides to speak up today of all days. First time he's shown up and earned his fucking paycheck all season and now he wants to run his mouth? That's cool, Herm's not the only scrub on this team that needs to go.

[ClevelandBronco]

Those assholes should shut the hell up until they have some coaching experience.

Moreover, they should shut the hell up until they appear to be NFL players.

[Hammock Parties]

Herm is dumb and Hali is dumber.

[blueballs]

maybe the need to speak up
motivated Hali to perform today
Herm just knows how to motivate

[notorious]

Herm is dumb and Hali is dumber.

Perfect Photo-Shop Op. I am not worth a F*** at it, though.

[Hammock Parties]

Perfect Photo-Shop Op. I am not worth a F*** at it, though.

I did this last year:

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/3031/carlandhermdumbanddumbefo1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[notorious]

My apologies.

You do amazing work.

:ROFL:

[ClevelandBronco]

Herm is unquestionably an idiot coach.

Hali would never even be considered to prove himself as an idiot coach.

Shut up.

[blueballs]

HErm could be a terrorist
slowly awaiting his hareem of virgins

[kstater]

Hell yeah, whether Hali is right or wrong in his assesment has no bearing. Implosion from within the locker room is a great thing to lead to the ousting of Herm and Carl.

[007]

Hell yeah, whether Hali is right or wrong in his assesment has no bearing. Implosion from within the locker room is a great thing to lead to the ousting of Herm and Carl.That whole team could go nuclear in the locker room but it wouldn't work because they have no plutonium.

[PhillyChiefFan]

Heh, true, but he is right on one occasion. LJ had only 4 carries in today's 2nd half. Last week, it was 3.

Both were losses.

This, I think, speaks volumes.

The whole time we were passing it in the 4th quarter I was holding my breath. I couldn't believe we weren't running it.

Clock management was absolutely dismal, and embarassing a HIGH SCHOOL head coach would have coached better in the 2nd half.

Heads have to roll, and I hope this was enough to get Herm, Gun, and Carl's head in the guillotine.

I have never been this embarassed to be a fan of a team. We were close in many games this year and they ALL were lost by inept coaching and strategy in the 2nd half.

[bowener]

Hali might not be accurate as to what happened, and he may be accurate, but what matters is we are starting to see more and more signs of the players showing distrust in Herm and Co. This, of course, will lead CHunt to give Herm a 2 year extension, instead of a 3 year extension.

This, I think, speaks volumes.

The whole time we were passing it in the 4th quarter I was holding my breath. I couldn't believe we weren't running it.

Clock management was absolutely dismal, and embarassing a HIGH SCHOOL head coach would have coached better in the 2nd half.

Heads have to roll, and I hope this was enough to get Herm, Gun, and Carl's head in the guillotine.

I have never been this embarassed to be a fan of a team. We were close in many games this year and they ALL were lost by inept coaching and strategy in the 2nd half.

This, and other things, got me thinking. Could the Chiefs be the first in history to have a football team with no head coach next year? I mean, all I hear about Herm is how great he is at motivating players and such. So I was thinking we could go out and hire the best OC and DC and ST coaches we can find. Then we allow them to hire all the position coaches they want, and they can spend large bank doing so because we arent paying a HC. Then once we have all of that in place we go and hire a motivational speaker to replace Herm. Hell, we can literally hire a time clock specialist to help the other coaches call time out if we need to, but the important part is we hire a good motivational speaker, maybe even a team of them, to get the players in the right frame of mind. I nominate:

[bowener]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12162007/photos/ent052.jpg

[Radar Chief]

That's pretty funny that Tamba decides to speak up today of all days. First time he's shown up and earned his ****ing paycheck all season and now he wants to run his mouth? That's cool, Herm's not the only scrub on this team that needs to go.

Yea, it’s not the offense’s fault they gave up two touchdowns in a minute.

[HemiEd]

Bowe was in Herm's face on camera
Hali and Surtain in print
has Herm lost the team

Herm lost the team a long time ago.

[Earthling]

Didn't Hali get the memo? We want to keep the games close and lose on the last few plays of the game. Draft position stradagy or something..

[dj56dt58]

if the official could spot a ****ing football we wouldnt be talking about this

[Demonpenz]

Anyway we can ship hali's mom off to ethiopia again so he can find some motiviation?

[Sure-Oz]

It doesn't help when the coach points fingers at everyone else but himself, that attitude spreads to the team

[EyePod]

"I'm not the type to point any fingers," Surtain said. "I can tell you this: This game shouldn't have been close."

Good because the finger would be pointed in your own face.

I think he was referring to the fact that we missed two scoring opportunities in the 1st half. Even if the game was 20-3 at half (2 FG's instead of nothing), it would have been a different game.

[Molitoth]

if the official could spot a ****ing football we wouldnt be talking about this

True, although we deserved it.... the refs tossed one of their best lineman for a phantom punch.

[EyePod]

True, although we deserved it.... the refs tossed one of their best lineman for a phantom punch.

It's not a fucking phantom punch! I'm tired of people whining about this. He obviously took a swing. The ref was right there. It's still a punch even if he misses. It's the intent behind it. On top of all of that, he swung at Tamba, who was defenseless! The Chargers are a bunch of lying, cheating, roiding little girls who can't even throw punches. They're only good at choking and injuring other players.

[RINGLEADER]

"We had the game won."

Hali doesn't seem to understand it but that's why they lost - the belief that the game was over before it was over. To say the defense did their job for 58 minutes would be accurate. To say the defense did enough to win is laughable.

But I do like how this guy has one decent game and starts talking like he has any right to criticize anything or anyone on this team.

[Demonpenz]

tiger hali